Infinite Stratos: A New Person
by azayaka93
Summary: A year has passed after the battle with the pilotless IS. Ichika and friends were about their second year at IS Academy when suddenly there was a news of another male pilot being discovered. How will they cope with the new boy at school? AU setting.
1. Prologue

**Infinite Stratos: A New Person**

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

**23/July/2007 Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina**

The skies are red, and smokes came from the burned buildings at countryside. Explosions were heard everywhere. A group of militants were seen heading towards the battlefield. They were clutching assault rifles.

"They're here! Move out!" said a man, waving his hand to the direction of the explosion. Little did he and his militant buddies know that the enemies that they will face are far more stronger than them.

This is because their enemies are women in special exoskeletons. The exoskeletons were called Infinite Stratos which was invented by a genius named Tabane Shinonono. At first, it was planned for space exploration, but somehow it was later scrapped. The exoskeletons possessed technology and combat capabilities far more advanced than any other weapon system.

Because of that, to prevent one nation from dominating others with the use of it, the nations of the world enact the "Alaska Treaty", which states that IS will never be used for military combat and that existing IS technology must be equally distributed to all nations. Infinite Stratos only respond to women. Thus, it has changed the balance of power between men and women, with women dominating over men.

Why are the militants fighting them? The women are from two different PMCs, fighting to steal one's technology. At the same time, they were destroying the place, ignoring the innocent civilians trapped in the crossfire. The militants wanted to intercept the fight, but seems like their lack of common knowledge of the exoskeleton resulted with their demise.

"AAAAUUGH!" screamed a militant as he was decapitated by an IS pilot.

"They're too strong!"

The battle between the IS PMCs continued for hours after the militants were wiped out.

* * *

><p>A young boy was holding an AK-47 on his arms, hiding inside an abandoned apartment. He had seen the carnage. He was traumatized by the sight of the corpses of his friends lying in front of him. They were all burned badly and mutilated. Those women were ruthless. How heartless could they be, to murder dozens of innocent children? The boy didn't understand what was going on.<p>

He heard the sound of jet engines near him. When he peeked from the window, he didn't see jets. Instead, he saw two women, both in their IS, fighting. The first was European by her looks. Her IS was in a critical condition. The leg part was damaged. The wings were broken. The woman had a few cuts on her skimpy military uniform that looked like a one piece swimming suit.

The second one was also European, with short spiky hair. Unlike her opponent, she was clean from bruises and cuts. She was getting the upper hand in this fight. Her opponent had a hard time evading and blocking her powerful attacks. It took a long time until eventually, the former got her energy sword sliced by the injured IS pilot.

"To Hell with you!" yelled the injured IS pilot as she stabbed her chest.

"Graaarghh…" the spiky haired pilot gurgled in her own blood. Her IS deactivated and she fell into a pile of rubble.

The injured IS pilot cursed to herself repeatedly and landed on the ground to take a break.

"Damn that corporation's IS pilots," said the woman "They're starting to use enhancement drugs. Not to mention those stupid militants. Dumb men are everywhere."

The young boy, who heard from his hiding, gritted his teeth. He carefully aimed his AK-47 at the woman. It was his first time holding this weapon and he wanted to kill the woman. His plan didn't go well, because he lost his footing at the rubble the same time he pulled the trigger. The bullet hits the brick wall next to the women. The woman quickly turned to the direction of the fire.

"There are more of them? Take this, you stubborn rats!" she yelled. She fired her IS rifle at the window. The boy was thrown away by the blast. Smokes filled the place. Emerging slowly from the smoke was the woman. She glared at the boy. The boy, scared, began shooting her. Due to IS being superior to any infantry weapons, it didn't leave any effect.

"Fool! You're just wasting your time! You can't kill an IS pilot with that puny weapon!" she swings her energy sword at him. The boy used his AK to parry the blade before it was cut in half. He scrambled from the woman, taking away another AK from a dead body. The woman laughed at him. "Run like a rat, boy! Men are nothing in this society. Men do nothing but cower in front of an IS." She chased while shooting him, which instead hit the walls, nearly hitting him. At last, the boy was cornered. He was caught between a wall and the pilot. "I have no regrets killing a child like you." She took out another blade and charged at him.

But somehow, her IS deactivated. She had used up all of her IS' power, that is why. The woman landed on her feet, shocked. "Shit, I've used up all of the suit's power," Then, she looked at the boy, who was still terrified. The AK that he's holding was now pointing at her "_Cazzo_,"

The boy fired his AK at the woman, shutting his eyes. After a while, it became silent. The boy slowly opened his eyes. The woman was dead, lying in a pool of blood.

* * *

><p><strong>24July/2007**

The sounds of explosions were gone. The place was nothing but filled with collapsed building and dead civilians, militants and not to mention a few dead IS pilots.

In the same building, the boy was hugging his knees next to the corpse of the IS pilot. The corpse was covered with a white blanket he found inside the building. Although she tried to kill him, he had to respect the body of the dead.

He heard footsteps. He quickly raised his AK. Then, a woman appeared from the doorway. She appeared to be a woman who's about to enter her 20's. She has long purple hair and a pair of metallic ears on her head which resembles bunny ears. Her clothing showed that she's a civilian but the boy didn't trust the woman by her looks and will not get fooled. He aimed his AK at her head but he's still hesitant to kill another person. The woman raised her hands when he does that. She noticed the corpse beside him.

"You killed her?" said the woman. Her accent proved that she's a foreigner. The boy slowly nodded. The woman approached him, who shook in fear. "Calm down, child. I don't kill."

"I don't trust you," said the boy "You must be one of them. You came here to finish me off, don't you?"

"One of them?" said the woman "Do I look like I'm going to kill you?"

"Take one step and it'll be your head torn into pieces!" yelled the boy. Despite the threat, the woman smiled.

"Are you even worthy enough to pull the trigger, and kill an unarmed woman?" she said nicely.

Trusting her a bit, the boy slowly lowered his weapon; his eyes still sticking at her. The woman pulled the blanket from the corpse. She gave it a stare before covering it back. "You were lucky her Infinite Stratos deactivated," said the woman.

_Infinite Stratos_? The word puzzled the boy. He assumed it was the name of the exoskeleton that the dead pilot wore. He kept his distance away from her.

"Tell me, child. What is your name?" said the woman, looking at him. She gave him a warm smile. A warm and nice aura radiated from her, making the boy to trust her completely. The woman hugged the boy, rubbing her cheeks against his. The boy blushed deeply "Such a cutie. I guess you have a cute name too."

"Su-Suljo Kiranovich. I'll kill you if you don't release me!" said the boy, effortlessly pushing the woman away.

"Aw, so you think you're tough just because you threatened me? You're scared, I know it. Is this your first time killing someone?" said the woman. She released the boy named Suljo and sat beside him.

Suljo nodded. "I don't know what happened here. Why are there women in those strange machines killing each other?"

"They came here for a bad reason. Why are you fighting those, _'women in strange machines_'?" said the woman. Somehow, she managed to slip a small smirk.

Suljo gulped. "They killed everyone. My friends, my teacher… everyone."

"Where are your parents?" said the woman, taking the AK away from Suljo and placed it beside her.

"I live with my grandfather. My grandfather said they died during the Bosnia War after my birth," said Suljo.

"You poor thing," said the woman "But I sensed that you have other reasons for killing the woman beside you. Does it come from your hatred of women?"

"I hate them," said Suljo, tears started to form around his eyes "They are bullies. Before you can get something you want, they'll get it first."

"Ohohoh, I'm a woman," the woman teased.

"You are…," said Suljo, looking away from the woman, trying to think of something to say "I guess you are different, Miss."

"Different?"

"You're nice. Girls and women at my place constantly bully me. At school, the streets, anywhere. I haven't any strength to fight back. The law forbid me to do so," said Suljo. Then, he broke down, crying "And when the law is there, they did anything they wanted. They push me around, insult me and beat me. Not just me, but my male friends and even my strict grandfather. I once attacked a woman because she… she did something terrible to my grandfather!" He cried. Tabane stroked his head, calming him. After drying his tears, the boy continued "Then, I was thrown into the lock up. I actually escaped from that wretched place, and before I know it, people were getting killed by those strange women."

The woman listened to his rant calmly. Inside her heart, there is a feeling of guilt. Suddenly, she has an idea.

"Hush, dear. Say, do you want to be strong?" said the woman, wiping his tears.

"Strong?" said Suljo.

"So that you can prove to the women that you are worth living," said the woman. "You can stay with me and I will give you something to make you strong. This offer is once in a lifetime. I can't offer things like this for the second time. Well, consider yourself lucky."

Suljo considered her offer. If he rejects, he will not have a place to stay. He doesn't have any known relatives except for his dead grandfather.

"I want to be strong to protect the pride of men," said Suljo looking at the woman in the eyes.

"However, this will entirely change your life. You won't know what will be lying ahead of you. You'll be meeting people; great people, nice people, bad people and so on. Are you sure of it?" said the woman.

"I'm sure of it," said Suljo "Excuse me, can I know who you are?"

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Tabane Shinonono. I'm from Japan. I'm the inventor of those exoskeletons that you saw earlier," said the woman.

**- Chapter 1 END -**


	2. He's here

**The 'Prologue' chapter served as a brief history before this chapter. That is why I put my OC first before meeting any canon character, other than Tabane Shinonono, to give readers a hint on how he could pilot an IS.**

**Infinite Stratos: A New Person**

**Chapter 2: He's Here**

**2012 IS Academy, Japan**

IS Academy, short for Infinite Stratos Academy, is an academy where girls were sent to study on using Infinite Stratos. Located on an island not far from the mainland, students and visitors use monorails as transport to get there. It is the only academy to nurture IS pilots. Majority of the students are Japanese. Despite this, foreign students that came to study at the academy are only representatives. Only one representative is chosen for each country to study there.

Ichika Orimura, Houki Shinonono, Cecilia Alcott, Charlotte Dunois, Huang Lin Yin and Laura Bodewig have entered their second year in the IS Academy. Cecilia is the representative from the United Kingdom. Charlotte was from France, Laura from Germany and Lin Yin hailed from China. Among them, Ichika and Houki are special because both of them were chosen as representatives for Japan. Although the academy has only female students, Ichika was the only male student.

It was unusual for a male to pilot an Infinite Stratos because the machine was built for women to use. Scientists have spent years of research to enable Infinite Stratos to respond to males, but they've failed. Ichika, somehow, managed to pilot an Infinite Stratos after he accidentally touched an unused one. Because of that, he had to study at the academy despite being the only boy in the female populated academy. Whether it's a pleasure or a burden, he hoped that he could at least have a guy to be friends with. Lucky for him, this year, there's news that shocked the world: A boy was discovered using an Infinite Stratos.

"Have you watched the news?" said Ichika to Houki at class. It was their first day starting their second year in the academy.

"Of course yes," said Houki.

"It was a shock to hear about another male using an Infinite Stratos," said Charlotte.

"Tell me about it," said Lin Yin "I mean, how this was possible? First, it was Ichika. Then, him."

"Where was he from?" said Charlotte.

"Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Laura.

"I wonder what class he will be put in?" said Cecilia.

"I guess he will not be in this class since Ichika is already here, just to make the balance fair," said Laura. While the girls were discussing about the new transfer student, Ichika was smiling alone.

"What's with the smile?" said Lin Yin.

"It's just that during my study here, I've been mixing with girls every day. But now that he's here, I could enjoy being buddies with him." said Ichika. The door of the classroom slide open and two teachers entered. One was Chifuyu Orimura, who was Ichika's sister. Chifuyu Orimura was Japan's legendary IS pilot and the strongest among other IS users. She was once the IS Representative for Japan before the title was given to Ichika and Houki. For now, she's a teacher. The person next to her was Maya Yamada. Both Chifuyu and Maya stood in front of the class as everyone scrambled to their seats.

"Welcome back to school, everyone. I hope all of you had a fun holiday," said Maya, as usual, in her cheerful tone.

"Alright, class. As you already know, the school will have another male student joining us. It is my duty to announce that he will be joining this class," said Chifuyu. The girls except Houki, Lin Yin, Laura and Charlotte cheered excitedly. Ichika sat straight, ready to welcome the new student.

"Yes, he's in the same class!" said Ichika to Houki. Houki gave him a nod but she actually didn't care about that.

Chifuyu turned to the door and said, "You can come in." Everyone waited for the new student to come in. The new student walked slowly into the class. He is from Eastern Europe by his looks. His height, estimated by Ichika, was a few centimetres taller than Ichika. The boy has light brown hair, a pair of big green eyes. He was smiling nervously. He has a backpack carried on his back, which is unusual, because students in this academy use book bags. His uniform was similar to Ichika's. The only difference is that there's a white shemah draped around his neck. Facing the class, the boy took a deep breath before introducing himself.

"Hello, everyone. My name is… Suljo Kiranovich. I'm the IS Representative Cadet from Bosnia and Herzegovina," said the boy in a nervous voice. He stood trembling in front of the whole class.

"_It's him!_" said Ichika. He smiled to himself. Apparently Suljo crossed eyes with Ichika. Both of them smiled at each other.

"Welcome, Kiranovich-san. I'm Maya Yamada, your vice-homeroom teacher. You can call me Yamada-sensei. Orimura-sensei here is the homeroom teacher," said Maya "Welcome to IS Academy. We open-heartedly accept you in this academy. Although you and Ichika are the only boys here, we are more than happy to give you some hospitality. We hope you will enjoy staying here until graduation."

"Um, yes!" said Suljo. He's getting more nervous because of the stares that the girls gave him. Ichika knew the girls in his class were eyeing Suljo like wolves.

"As for your seat, you can sit beside Ichika," Maya looked at Houki "Excuse me, Houki. Please vacate your seat for the new student."

Houki was taken aback by her "Oh no," said Houki "Why can't he sit at another place?"

"Houki, I'm sorry, is he a girl?" said Chifuyu, folding her arms.

"Well-,"

"Is he a girl?" said Chifuyu with a threatening tone gave shivers to Houki and most of the students. Even the new student was scared.

"No, Orimura-sensei," said Houki. She packed her bag and moved to the back row. Suljo gave her an apologetic smile, which was shrugged coldly by Houki.

"Hi, I'm Ichika Orimura," whispered Ichika to Suljo.

"Suljo Kiranovich," said Suljo. Both of them had to pay attention to Ms Yamada who was about to teach.

"Okay students, please turn to page 34 of The Fundamentals of Infinite Stratos," said Maya. Everyone used their desks which has a built-in computer. Maya began her lecture. A few minutes later, she noticed the new student did nothing but stare blankly at his own desk.

"Is there something wrong, Kiranovich-san?" asked Maya.

"I… I don't know how to use this… thing," said Suljo in a soft voice, feeling embarrassed. The girls in class giggled and Suljo blushed deeply. Chifuyu banged Ichika's head with her fist. Ichika yelped in pain.

"Ow, what was that for?" said Ichika to Chifuyu.

"Perhaps you should teach your new friend here how to use his computer desk," said Chifuyu.

"Here, let me help," said Ichika to Suljo. He pressed the touchscreen of the table. The screen opened a window of an e-book program.

"Thanks," said Suljo. The lesson resumed and throughout the lesson, Ichika noticed that Suljo was staring fascinatedly at the electronic board that Maya uses for her lecture. The transfer student's eyes flickered in awe when the board shows interesting slides of teaching materials. He even lets out a soft 'whoah' when the holographic projector projects a holographic image of an Infinite Stratos.

"_Probably he's never seen these before_," thought Ichika.

* * *

><p>"Which part of Bosnia did you come from?" asked a student to Suljo during the class interval. Most of the class joined in the conversation except for Ichika, Houki, Charlotte and Laura. They were at the back of the class, watching the girls crowding Suljo's place. Outside the class, students from other classes came to take a look at him.<p>

"I came from the countryside of Bihac," said Suljo. He was a little nervous when he was surrounded by girls.

"Eh, so that's why you didn't know how to use your table," teased a student.

"Yeah, I'm not used to modern lifestyle," said Suljo.

"I heard that Bosnia has beautiful sceneries," said another student.

"You're right. The place where I came from has beautiful lakes and mountains. Not to mention, the weather is cold. When you visit there, you'll be amazed," said Suljo enthusiastically.

"So, that's why Kiranovich-san's skin is beautiful," said a student "I'm jealous of you."

"Yeah, especially when he was raised far from the hustle and bustle of the city, his skin would be soft and fair," said the second student. She casually pinched Suljo's cheeks. It is really soft, so the girl let out a fascinated squeal "Really soft," The others, moved by her bold act, decided to do the same. Suljo blushed deeply and was stunned when the girls poked his cheeks. He trembled nervously.

"Alright, alright. You're making him scared. Say, Kiranovich, can you speak in English?" said Cecilia after everyone was stopped by her.

"Of course, yes. It's an international language, right?" said Suljo in English, with a heavy Bosnian accent.

"Oh, it's fluent!" said Cecilia, clapping her hands "Let's talk together in English next time, okay? I just need an English speaking partner."

"Eh, okay," said Suljo.

"A quick question here," Lin Yin interrupted "How can you pilot an IS?"

"How can Orimura-san pilot an IS?" asked Suljo back to her.

"Maybe it has something to do with Orimura-sensei, since she's related to Ichika-kun," said a student. Suljo heard that.

"That strict teacher's related to him?" said Suljo.

"What are your assumptions?" said Lin Yin.

"Hmm, since Orimura-sensei is Orimura-san's mother, Orimura-san carries her genes. Thus, enabling him to use Infinite Stratos," said Suljo. At the back of the class, Ichika, Houki, Laura and Charlotte fell from their chairs. The girls laughed at Suljo's answer. Suljo looked at his surroundings confusedly.

"She's not his mother," said Lin Yin, sweat dropped "She's his sister and she's also an IS pilot. Do you know who's Tabane Shinonono?"

"She invented Infinite Stratos," said Suljo.

"If you knew who she is, then you must know who that girl over there," said Lin Yin, pointing towards Houki.

"Uh…"

"Houki Shinonono," said Lin Yin.

"A cousin of Prof. Shinonono?" said Suljo.

"No, she's not. She's Tabane's sister. What's wrong with you? You don't even have any general knowledge on Infinite Stratos. Are you an idiot?," said Lin Yin. A few gasped at her. However, Suljo smiled slightly at her, taking the insult lightly.

"About me piloting an IS; it's a secret, I'm sorry. If I said I could pilot an IS because I suddenly can, that would be a weak reason, right?" said Suljo.

"I think you are a girl in disguise. It's impossible for a male other than Ichika to use an IS," said Charlotte, joining in the conversation.

"She's saying that because she once disguised herself as a guy last year," said a student to Suljo. Suljo stared at Charlotte weirdly, making the latter to blush lightly.

"If you want to say that I'm a girl; you're wrong. I'm a boy. This deep voice proved it, right?" said Suljo to Charlotte.

"Right…" said Charlotte.

"Secret, huh?" said Houki in her group.

"I can't believe he said Chifuyu was my mother," said Ichika, chuckling.

"What could explain his ability to pilot an IS?" said Laura.

"Yeah, I'm intrigued about it," said Ichika, making a thinking pose.

"Maybe, he's lying," said Houki. Ichika and Laura looked at her.

"Don't jump to conclusions, Houki," said Ichika and at the same time, a teacher came in to start the next period. The period went smoothly, and Suljo managed to get used with his desk computer. On the middle of the period, Suljo raised his hand.

"Yes?" said the teacher.

"May I go out to do my business?" said Suljo.

"Oh, yes. I understand. Please do," said the teacher.

After getting her permission, Suljo went out while clutching a rug that he took out from his bag. It left everyone wondering. It is about a quarter before lunch time when he went out. They assumed Suljo was going for lunch earlier than them.

* * *

><p>"<em>Where's he going?<em>" thought Ichika after the lunch bell rang and Suljo wasn't back from his business. Ichika wanted to ask Suljo to join his group for lunch.

"Lunch, Ichika," said Houki.

"Um, yeah. I'm going to wait for him first," said Ichika.

"No, he can find his way, and we're not going to eat at the cafeteria," said Lin Yin. On her hand was a homemade bento wrapped in cloth. Cecilia, Charlotte and Laura also have their own bentos.

"Really, guys, you don't need to drag me all the way here," said Ichika to Cecilia, Houki, Laura, Charlotte and Lin Yin. They were at the school park. The group sat in a circle, eating their lunch. Ichika looked at Houki "Why did you do that?"

"It was nothing," said Houki, Ichika looked at her confusedly.

"You look different today," said Ichika "Is it because my sister told you to give a seat to him?"

"It's his 'secret' that I'm worried about," said Houki "What if he actually couldn't pilot an IS?"

"There were witnesses when Ichika first activated an IS. I guess Kiranovich has the same thing happen. Don't you remember what the news said?" said Cecilia.

"I don't believe the news," said Houki "I don't believe the news when they mentioned about him activating an IS by just touching it. There must be some sort of secret he's hiding. Also, the idea of another male IS pilot in this academy would spark more trouble."

"Like?" said Cecilia.

"He's a guy. Get the hint?" said Houki, eyeing Ichika from the corner of her eye.

"A pervert?" said Charlotte.

"Whaaat?" said Ichika.

"Don't act naive," said Houki "Remember the first day? You saw me clad in a towel inside our room."

"That was an accident!" said Ichika, waving his arms.

"How about a naked Laura doing an arm bar on you on the bed," said Houki.

"She did WHAT?" said Lin Yin.

"She did it intentionally!" cried Ichika.

"In fact, yes," said Laura, coughing.

"There's one thing that I will not forget forever; You had a bath with Charlotte! Not just once," added Lin Yin, shaking her fists. A dark eerie aura glowed from her body. Her chopsticks snapped.

"That is, err…," said Ichika, he's in loss of words. Charlotte blushed at Lin Yin's statement.

"So you're saying Kiranovich is a pervert because he's a guy?" said Cecilia.

"He's a low class scum, just like all men are," said Lin Yin.

"Yo, I'm a guy," said Ichika, sweat dropped.

"He looked suspicious when he went out of class," said Houki "It took him a long time to the toilet."

"Maybe he's lost," said Ichika.

"And that rug he brought along? Do you think he's going to use it while taking a leak?" said Houki.

"You all have no clue that he's a Bosniak," said Laura.

"What's a Bosniak?" said Ichika but Laura ignored him.

"Hey, look. It's him," said Charlotte, pointing at a person coming from afar. It was Suljo and his rug is clutched underneath his armpit.

"Oh, it's that village idiot," said Lin Yin, rolling her eyes "I bet he was searching all around the campus for us."

"Hush, Lin Yin. He might hear you," said Cecilia.

"Hello everyone," said Suljo to the group "Lucky that I stumbled upon you all. Can I join you guys?" Out of everyone, only Ichika and Cecilia nodded. The others were either looking at the ground or eating. Suljo sat beside Ichika.

"Took you long enough," said Ichika.

"I got lost," said Suljo.

"Next time, I'll accompany you," said Ichika to Suljo.

"Thank you," said Suljo "You're lucky that you'll have the privilege of leaving the class and have lunch early to accompany me while I pray."

"Awesome," said Ichika, smiling. The girls were jealous of him.

"The teachers won't like it," said Cecilia.

"They were informed earlier. That's what Orimura-sensei said to me. She also told me to get Ichika to accompany me," said Suljo.

"Then, why didn't you ask him earlier?" said Lin Yin.

"I forgot about that," said Suljo.

"That aside, we should introduce ourselves," said Cecilia to Suljo "My name's Cecilia Alcott, IS Representative of England. The girl with the twin tail is Huang Lin Yin, IS Representative of China."

Lin Yin was still eating her lunch, ignoring Suljo.

"That's Charlotte Dunois from France. Her father owns a company that produces third generation IS'," said Cecilia. Charlotte, being a nice girl, smiled at Suljo.

"Um… _bon joe?"_ said Suljo. Charlotte giggled at his mispronunciation.

"_Bonjour. Ravie de vous connaître," _said Charlotte. (Hello, Nice to meet you.). Suljo nodded although he didn't understand a word she said.

"The one with the eye patch is Laura Bodewig from Germany," said Cecilia.

"_Guten Tag_," said Suljo to Laura, only to be ignored.

"_Stop ignoring him," _thought Ichika.

"And this is Houki Shinonono, IS Representative from Japan, the same as Ichika," said Cecilia.

"Hi, I'm sorry for taking your seat," said Suljo to Houki. Houki gave him a grunt without looking at him.

"Have you eaten?" asked Ichika to Suljo. Suljo shook his head.

"I'm too shy to eat while being surrounded by girls," said Suljo, blushing.

"Haha, studying in this place is challenging," said Ichika.

"It's because you two are boys," said the girls.

"You can join our group since we are the first to know you," said Ichika. Suljo's face brightened.

"I would be glad to, Orimura-san," said Suljo.

"Please, call me Ichika," said Ichika.

"Excuse me, Kiranovich. I'm still intrigued about you being able to pilot an IS. Would you mind explaining it to us?" said Charlotte.

"I've told you earlier; It's a secret," said Suljo.

"Are there any person who make IS for males?" asked Lin Yin, trying to extract information.

"I can't tell who made it. It's a secret and as far as I know, people could mass produce Infinite Stratos," said Suljo again, only to get a frown from the Chinese.

"That doesn't prove your point!" said Lin Yin "I mean, if no one could make an Infinite Stratos like yours, then who in this world did it? Did you activate an IS by touching it?"

"I'm really sorry, guys. Everything about me and my IS are confidential," said Suljo, smiling.

"Aw, come on. No one else could hear if you tell us," said Ichika.

"I was told to keep this secret," said Suljo.

"Who told you? Your organisation?" said Charlotte nicely but her tone was sharp.

"I-," said Suljo but Houki cuts in.

"Just tell us the truth. You actually can't pilot an IS, right? What are you doing here in this academy?" said Houki, standing up while pointing her finger at Suljo.

"You haven't seen it," said Suljo.

"Then show it," said Houki, folding her arms. Suljo kept quiet. He looked at the ground, as if he's trying to find an answer.

"We're waiting," said Lin Yin.

"Let me tell you this: Infinite Stratos only responds to a woman," said Houki.

"Well, how come Ichika could pilot one?" said Suljo.

"He was gifted, unlike you. Also, for your information, men are considered a nuisance in this society. I'm sure that you are one of them," said Lin Yin.

"That's impolite, girls," said Ichika sternly "It's his first time here. Don't just accuse him of something unless if you have proof."

"Defending the village idiot, eh?" said Lin Yin.

"No," said Ichika "Seriously, everyone, what is wrong with Suljo?"

"The problem is; he's a guy. We don't know whether he's a spy," said Houki.

"Well, Charlotte was a spy once," said Ichika.

"You guys should stop fighting," said Suljo, trying to calm Ichika and Houki.

"Shut your trap, Kiranovich!" yelled Houki to Suljo. Suljo fidget a little after getting yelled at "And don't act so friendly to us."

"Then, I'll show it," said Suljo to her "I'll show you all my IS."

"Really, is it for real?" sneered Lin Yin "Or it's just words spoken from a conman?"

"I can guarantee you that I'm telling the truth," said Suljo.

"Well then, if it's true, I'm the one who will fight you. I'll make you know your place in this society. If you're lying, you should be ashamed of yourself," said Lin Yin cockily "If I win, you're going to do anything that I command,"

"Okay, if I win, well, there will be nothing, it's just me winning," said Suljo.

"Hmph, don't try to act like a gentleman," huffed Lin Yin. She and Houki left the group.

"We should be going," said Laura, standing up. She and Charlotte walked away. The only person left were Suljo, Ichika and Cecilia.

"What's with them?" said Ichika. Suljo's stomach suddenly growled. He blushed.

"Want a sandwich?" said Cecilia, offering her lunchbox at Suljo and trying to cheer him up.

"Thank you," said Suljo, taking a slice. Ichika, who had a taste on Cecilia's bad cooking, could just watch. Suljo took a bite and surprisingly, he didn't show any reaction. Instead, he finished the sandwich.

"How's it?" said Cecilia, surprised to see someone managed to survive eating her food.

"It's awful," said Suljo. Cecilia felt like something struck her heart. She trembled. Suljo, keeping his smile, continued, "But it's a food and I appreciated it." Then, he collapsed. His smile is still intact.

"Oh my God, you killed him!" said Ichika to Cecilia, shaking Suljo's 'lifeless' body.

* * *

><p>Usually after school session, Ichika had to walk back to his dorm surrounded by girls. Now, he has Suljo walking with him side by side. They were in front of the girls of their class. All of girls watched both of them in envy. At the same time, some of the girls started to have perverted thoughts about the two boys. Houki and Lin Yin could watch Ichika and Suljo jealously, but it's Suljo that they observed mostly. Ichika and Suljo arrived in front of Suljo's room. Ichika's harem (Houki, Cecilia, Lin Yin, Laura and Charlotte.) have headed to their respective rooms. They didn't even bother to say 'Good night,' to them except for Lin Yin who gave Suljo a warning glare.<p>

"Well, Suljo, since you're here, I have to pack my belongings," said Ichika.

"You're moving?" said Suljo.

"We're rooming together, right?" said Ichika.

"I'm sorry, Ichika. I have talked to your sister that I'm going to stay alone. I needed privacy, you know?" said Suljo. Ichika gave a disappointed sigh.

"_A guy needs privacy? Really?" _Ichika thought.

"We can hang out anytime, right? You're more than allowed to visit me," said Suljo.

"You're right," said Ichika "I'm going to go back to my room. I'm currently rooming with Houki."

"Not alone?" said Suljo.

"She's a childhood friend of mine. Is there something wrong?" said Ichika.

"No, it's just, weird," said Suljo "A girl and a boy sharing a room. Is it okay like that?"

"Well, at first it's kind of awkward and considering that I've been changing roommates a few times, I guess it's okay" said Ichika, laughing "Even if I tried to do something sexual, there will be a wooden sword swinging towards me."

"A wooden sword swinging towards you? Are there ghosts inside this place?" said Suljo. Ichika laughed at his statement.

"No, what I mean is, Houki will try to whack me with a wooden sword. I've once ran into her after her bath and she attacked me," said Ichika.

"So, see you tomorrow then," said Suljo after opening his room door.

"Suljo," Suljo turned at Ichika "I'm sorry for the girls' behaviour back then. It's just that they're not used to newcomers."

"It's alright. I'm sure they'll accept me," said Suljo.

Ichika and Suljo shook hands.

**- Chapter 2 END -**


	3. First Win and First Loss

**Infinite Stratos: A New Person**

**Chapter 3: First Win and First Loss**

Houki woke up early in the morning. She took a deep breath before looking at Ichika's bed. Ichika was covering his whole body with a blanket. Houki was relieved to see her boyfriend sleeping peacefully. Her eyes traced from the bottom to the top of the blanket and saw something like a metallic bunny ear sticking out of the blanket. Quickly, she pulled the blanket from Ichika and there was Tabane Shinonono, her sister, sleeping with Ichika.

Then, the peaceful morning was interrupted with the sound of two people getting hit on the head. "Ow, that really hurt," said Tabane, rubbing her head while pretending to cry. Ichika, confused, followed the same.

"Sister, what are you doing here in Ichika's bed?" squealed Houki.

"I have returned from a long journey and came to see what my little sister's up to," said Tabane "Come, gimme a kiss." She wrapped her arms around Houki. Houki pushed her face away from her forcefully. Tabane had to give up "Actually, I'm here to check on the new boy."

"So, Ikkun," said Tabane, turning to Ichika "How's the new boy been doing?"

"He's doing fine," said Ichika. He looked at Houki from the corner of his eye, unsure whether to tell the truth or not. He chose to lie "We chatted together and got along pretty well."

"He must be really happy then," said Tabane, smiling "It's an opportunity to have a new boyfriend. I'm sure Suljo Kiranovich will appreciate it."

"What?" said Ichika, blushing.

"I mean 'boy-friend'. Get it? A boy who is your friend, not your lover," said Tabane, giggling. She wrapped her hands around his shoulder "But, you see, girls sometimes would have dirty thoughts when they see you and him together."

"The person who have dirty thoughts is you, sister," said Houki, grabbing Tabane's shoulder from behind.

"Oh my, I want to meet your sister, Ikkun," said Tabane, playfully exiting the room. Houki had to let her sister go this time.

After preparing, Ichika and Houki went to Suljo's room. At first, Houki declined and Ichika had to coax her. Once Ichika and Houki arrived in front of Suljo's room and the former gave it a knock, there was no answer. Ichika assumed the foreign student was still sleeping, so he continued on knocking the door.

"I'm going first," said Houki.

"Can you wait for a bit?" said Ichika, knocking the door.

"Ichika?" said a voice. It was not from inside the room. Ichika and Houki turned to the voice. It was Suljo. Beside him was Aikawa Kiyoka, a classmate. Both of them were in sports attire "Morning, you two."

"Good morning to you, too," said Ichika "Where were you?"

"I went for a jog around campus and had a small tour," said Suljo.

"And he got lost," said Aikawa, giggling "Luckily I was jogging at that time and we stumbled."

"This place is pretty big," said Suljo "No wonder I got lost easily."

"You can ask me for a tour," said Ichika, chuckling at his new friend.

"Well, excuse me. I'll prepare myself," said Suljo.

"I will wait for you," said Ichika.

"I'm going to have breakfast," said Houki. Before Ichika could open his mouth, Houki cut him off "No, I'll be fine alone. Come, Kiyoka" She stormed off along the corridor with Aikawa. Ichika and Suljo were confused with her attitude.

* * *

><p>Cafeteria<p>

"Man, Ichika and Houki left early without waiting for us," yawned Lin Yin. With her are Cecilia, Laura and Charlotte. They were in front of the cafeteria.

"Maybe Ichika visited Suljo's room," said Cecilia.

"Tsk, that village idiot is desperate for attention," said Lin Yin.

"You know, it's not nice if you keep calling him that," said Cecilia.

"What do you get when you befriend him? He's a guy, nothing more you can expect from him," said Lin Yin lazily.

"Ichika's a guy," sneered Cecilia.

"Hey, he's a childhood friend," said Lin Yin "And he saved me from the bullies when we were kids." She was a subject for bullying years ago because of her nationality. The bullies were boys and that caused her to have hatred towards boys other than Ichika.

She and the others entered the cafeteria and saw Houki eating breakfast alone at the table.

"Where are the boys?" said Charlotte to Houki after she, Cecilia, Lin Yin and Laura approached her.

"See for yourself," said Houki, gesturing at the direction behind her. A few tables away, they could see Ichika and Suljo eating together. The boys were chatting and laughing and the girls could just watch jealously.

"Look at him; he's enjoying himself with Ichika. What a kiss ass," said Lin Yin "They must be ignoring you, Houki."

"No, I rather sit alone than to have him sit with us," said Houki.

"Good decision," said Lin Yin.

Three girls approached them. One of them was not in her school uniform. Instead, she was wearing a yellow coloured costume with a hood on. The hood has a pair of long pointy ears. The sleeves were long that it concealed her hands. The girl's name is Honne Nohotoke.

"Mmm? Orimu's not eating with you guys?" she said.

"He and that village idiot ate somewhere else," said Lin Yin "Honne, do you know what is a village idiot?

"A country bumpkin?" said Honne.

"Yes, and you can make Suljo Kiranovich as an example," said Lin Yin.

"It's not nice to call him that," said Honne's friend; Sayuka. She was the one with two long ponytails.

"It's obvious because he looks like one," said Lin Yin, drinking her glass of milk.

"Come, lets greet them," said Honne to her friends. They went to Ichika and Suljo's table.

"Hello, Orimu and Suljo-kun," greeted Honne "Nice day we're having, isn't it?"

"Hello, Nohohon-san," said Ichika to Honne. Suljo was looking at the girl, in loss of words. Honne smiled at him.

"I'm Honne Nohotoke, one of your classmates. I sit at the back row of the class. Pleased to meet you," said Honne to Suljo. She pulled her hood down, revealing her shoulder length hair with two short ponytails.

"Oh, pleased to meet you too," said Suljo, giving a nervous smile.

"My, my," said Honne, looking at Suljo's tray which consist of a toast and a glass of milk "Is Suljo-kun on a diet?"

"I eat moderately," said Suljo. He looked at her tray. She has a glass of orange juice and buttered toast "You too?"

"The snacks I ate would be enough," said Honne.

"You really need to control what you're eating,"said Ichika "You can't eat junk food every day."

"Ehehe, Orimu also have to control your food intake," said Honne, pointing at Ichika's food tray. Ichika had bacon and eggs with baked beans and a glass of orange juice.

"What are you girls standing for? Care to join us?" said Ichika to the girls. The girls nodded excitedly. They sat beside Ichika.

"Is it true that you're not used with urban lifestyle, Suljo-kun?" asked Sayuri to Suljo.

"Yes," said Suljo.

"Don't worry, we can help you," said Honne.

"Oh, yeah," said Ichika while biting his bacon "If there's a chance, I would like to take him to the city this weekend," said Ichika.

"That's a good idea," said Honne.

"First we have Ichika, now we have another guy in the same class," said Honne to her friends.

"That's two hotties here," said Sayuka

"Ichika's hot, but Suljo's cute. Lucky!" said another one. The three of them giggled. Ichika and Suljo blushed.

"I see that you're looking at Honne strangely," whispered Ichika, still blushing.

"I don't know. It somehow bothered me," whispered Suljo.

"She's cute, right?"

"Yeah," whispered Suljo. He took a glance at Honne. It's true that she's cute. Suljo quickly turned his head when Honne noticed him staring at her.

"What's wrong, Suljo-kun?" said Honne.

"Why are you wearing pajamas at this hour?" said Suljo "Did you wake up late?"

Honne and her friends giggled "Oh, Suljo-kun. Honne likes to wear costumes. What you're looking at is one of them," said Sayuka.

"Um, yeah, she likes to wear that all the time," said Ichika to Suljo.

"You mean she wears that every day and every time?" said Suljo, his eyes widened.

"Well, not all the time," said Ichika "Besides that pyjama, she has another costume resembling a fox."

"Why?" said Suljo to Honne "Doesn't it misconduct the dress code?"

"Idiot, we call this as cosplay," said Lin Yin suddenly. The whole table didn't realise she was there a moment ago "Cosplay is an activity where you dress up as your favourite character from an animation and game."

"Like what you're wearing now?" said Suljo, looking at her uniform. Lin Yin's uniform was different than any other girls of the academy. Her shoulders are revealed because the shoulder parts of the blazer are detached.

"No, this is just a uniform," said Lin Yin.

"So, you can alter your uniform? That's pretty neat," said Suljo.

"If you have the chance to do it, what would it be?" said Ichika.

"I'm not sure. Maybe a short sleeved version of this uniform would be fine," said Suljo.

"You already have that scarf thing around your neck, Suljo-kun. It fits your appearance," said Honne.

"Thanks, it's a shemah. I suppose that costume of yours resembles a character?" said Suljo.

"No, it's just a costume of an animal. I like wearing things that resembles a fox," said Honne, flapping her hands.

"I just don't understand why people likes to imitate their favourite character. We're teenagers now," said Suljo.

Lin Yin clenched her fists and banged the table.

"Oh my God, can you be more stupid?" said Lin Yin to Suljo "Probably you also imitate Superman or anyone when you're a kid!"

"Relax, Lin Yin. He doesn't know what cosplay is," said Ichika.

"Che, I need to borrow Ichika for a while," said Lin Yin, rolling her eyes. She pulled Ichika by the arm. Ichika managed to grab along his tray of food. He gave Suljo an apologetic look.

"I'll see you in class," said Suljo to Ichika, but Ichika was a few feet away from him.

"Oh, come on, Lin Yin," said Ichika "Can't you give us boys some time?"

"Nope, don't care at all," said Lin Yin, dragging Ichika to Houki's table.

"He would probably get lost again. Look at him," said Ichika, pointing at Suljo who exited the cafeteria.

"Bah, Honne can guide him," said Lin Yin, pointing at Honne and her friends who are gleefully following Suljo.

* * *

><p>It was the training period for Ichika's class. All of them assembled at the stadium where students use IS for training. The girls, in their one piece suit, stood in 4 rows of lines while Ichika and Suljo stood side by side beside the girls. Ichika was in his navy blue suit which revealed his mid-section. Suljo however, was wearing a dark grey suit with white linings. He's like the other IS Representatives who have their own style of suits. It was not tight as Ichika and the girls' suits. Instead of revealing most of his skin, his suit looked more casual.<p>

Chifuyu Orimura stood in front of them with Maya Yamada, both in gym attires. "Alright, listen up, class," started Chifuyu "I know some of you enjoyed your school holidays until you forgot on the basics of maneuvering an IS. So, today we'll be focusing on that." Murmurs were heard from the students.

"To those who still remember, please take a partner," said Chifuyu. Everyone scrambled to their Training IS. A Training IS is a highly-rated 2nd generation model that focuses stability. It is easy for beginners to use it. Its design resembles like an armoured samurai.

Ichika, besides his Byaku Shiki IS, could also use a Training IS. He took a girl to refresh her memories on using an IS. Even personal IS users like Houki, Lin Yin, Cecilia, Laura and Charlotte had to use a Training IS. A few minutes later, everyone was a few feet from the ground, beginning the training. Some were flying around the place to sharpen their flying skills and practicing their sword skills.

Lin Yin was flying around, competing with other girls. She laughed as she watched them getting left behind. If she was in her Shenlong IS, she would have beaten them easily. A certain person from the ground caught her attention. It was not Chifuyu and Maya who were at the other end of the place, shouting instructions to a group of students. It was Suljo. He was sitting on the ground, leaning his back against the wall and watching the students practicing. Lin Yin decided to fly low and approach him.

"So, where's the IS that you promised?" said Lin Yin.

"We're supposed to use the Training IS," said Suljo.

"I know, but show me your IS," said Lin Yin.

"I can't," said Suljo.

"Chicken, it was you who said you will show your IS to us. Men are liars," said Lin Yin. She folded her arms "Well, I guess you could at least use the Training IS but why you aren't in one?"

"I can't use that thing," said Suljo again.

"What?" squealed Lin Yin, loud enough to make every heads turned towards her "You can't pilot one? I thought so!" She attacked him with the sword of the Training IS. Suljo evaded the attack and fell on his behind. The sword created a hole on the wall right beside Suljo's head.

"You're here to spy on us!" said Lin Yin. She pointed the sword towards him.

"No, I'm not!" said Suljo, waving his hands.

"Liar! Somebody call the authorities! We have a spy here!" said Lin Yin to everyone. Everyone panicked.

"Silence!" shouted Chifuyu. Everyone immediately went silent. Chifuyu approached Lin Yin. Houki, Cecilia, Laura, Charlotte and Ichika flew near her "Don't jump to conclusions, Lin Yin. He's not a spy."

"But he clearly said he couldn't pilot an IS," said Lin Yin to Chifuyu "It's obvious that he's an agent." She turned to Suljo "Who do you work with?"

"That is true that he couldn't pilot an IS but you didn't know the full story," said Chifuyu "Suljo, like all the IS Representatives, has his own IS. That IS is his only suit that he can pilot."

"Bullshit," said Houki suddenly "He can't pilot an IS, but he owns a personal IS? What kind of logic is that?"

"I agree with Houki," said Laura.

"I'm not a spy or an agent," said Suljo "I can pilot my own IS. Huang-san even challenged me into a fight if I was right."

"She did?" said Chifuyu, looking at Lin Yin. Lin Yin smirked sheepishly "Well then, a match will be held right now."

"This better be true, village idiot," said Lin Yin sharply to Suljo.

"Thank you," said Suljo, relieved "Thank you for believing me."

"Idiot, there's no need thanking a person who's going to beat you!" said Lin Yin, sticking her tongue at him.

* * *

><p>Everyone went to the stands to see the upcoming match between Lin Yin and Suljo. Most were getting excited about it, since Suljo's the second male to have a match against a girl. While everyone was at the stand, Ichika, Houki, Cecilia, Laura and Charlotte went to the control tower for a better view. Chifuyu, Maya and Tabane were there.<p>

Lin Yin was already in her Shenlong IS and face Suljo at the middle of the field.

"Hey, come on. Show me your so-called 'personal IS', village idiot," said Lin Yin arrogantly.

Suljo looked at the ground while shutting his eyes and spread his right hand to the side. A glow of light came from the digital watch that he's wearing. Then, an emerald light blanketed his whole body. Lin Yin couldn't believe his words were true. The light faded away and Suljo was floating in his IS. His IS was emerald in colour with silver, red and yellow linings. A buster sword was mounted at the back of the unit. The other side was a futuristic looking rifle. On the waist unit were two medium length daggers.

"I have proven this to you," said Suljo.

"Che," hissed Lin Yin "You were right. You CAN pilot your own IS. But, that doesn't mean I'm going to back down! Know your place!" The sound of horn blared throughout the stadium. Lin Yin started off by charging towards Suljo with a pair of liuyedao drawn out. The liuyedaos were named Soten Gogetsu and can be connected to form a naginata-like weapon. Suljo drew his daggers and blocked both of her attacks.

Back at the control tower, Maya loaded the information about Emerald Snow onto the computer. The view of the IS schematics and information are printed on the large screen.

_[Unit: Emerald Snow_

_Creator: Tabane Shinonono_

_Year: 2011_

_Specifications: Equipped with a specially-made IS Core that will only respond to its pilot; Suljo Kiranovich._

_Weapons: Buster sword (Baraka), 2 medium-length daggers (Keskin), a rifle (Atici), 2 beam sabers._

_Specialty: A small solar-powered charger panel to replenish the IS energy. Equipped with a radar jammer that spews green particles. Has a Fold-out Armour. The wing panels can act as a force field generator. The daggers can turn into shooting weapons.]_

Ichika and the others in the control tower were shocked to see Tabane's name as the creator of Suljo's IS.

"So, that's why he's keeping this a secret. It was you who created his IS," said Ichika to Tabane.

"It's not impossible when the creator of Infinite Stratos herself made a male-custom IS," said Tabane.

"What were you thinking?" Houki scolded Tabane. She even went as far as knocking her head "Do you know that you're the most wanted person and you've just gave this person an IS? Who was he when you met him?"

"Do you think I'm giving him just for fun? I have a reason to give him an IS and he has his reason to pilot one," said Tabane, rubbing the bump on her head. She sat on a chair "Have you heard of the Bihác Massacre?"

"It happened five years ago at Bosnia. Two IS companies fighting each other. They killed the people who were caught in the battlefield. It was the bloodiest incident that involves civilian and IS pilot casualties. Those companies were then given a penalty for breaking the Antarctic Treaty," said Chifuyu, folding her arms "A militant group was there to fight off the two sides, but was wiped out easily."

"And what is the connection?" said Ichika.

"Susu was part of that militant group and he was the only survivor," said Tabane "I found him next to a dead IS pilot. You wouldn't believe this but he actually killed her using an AK-47." Everyone was surprised. It's impossible to shoot down an IS using conventional military weapon. It was proven during the White Knight Incident, where an unknown hacker launched thousands of military missiles towards Japan. A mysterious IS pilot then easily disabled all of the missiles, proving that Infinite Stratos is superior to any military weapons. Tabane's story of Suljo killing an IS pilot with only an assault rifle didn't appear to have any logic.

"That's beyond impossible," said Laura.

"Nope, it was just luck. That pilot used up all of her IS energy, so it was deactivated and Susu took the chance of killing her," continued Tabane "From the look of his eyes, he was very terrified of the massacre. So, I took him for adoption. I was feeling guilty at that time, seeing an innocent little boy going through what my creations being put for evil use. That was why I offered him an IS. He's lucky to get this once in a lifetime offer," said Tabane.

"So, basically, all of this is for revenge?" said Ichika. Tabane nodded. Cecilia suddenly felt disgusted upon hearing that.

"Tell me, Ikkun; What is your purpose after getting an IS?" asked Tabane. No answer was heard from Ichika. Come to think of it, he's the first male to have the chance to pilot an IS. Compared to Suljo, he was able to pilot an IS after he accidentally touched one during his school entrance exam. But he has no purpose piloting an IS. His IS recently underwent a transformation, called the Second Shift, after fighting a rogue pilotless IS: Silverio Gospel. The transformation made his IS to change its design and also boosted its strength.

"I want to help those who are in need," said Ichika.

"He's getting his ass handed," said Cecilia, looking at the screen. Back in the fight, Lin Yin was beating Suljo without giving him the chance to recover. She was gaining the upper hand. Most of her melee attacks connected. From the start of the fight, Suljo didn't even land an attack. Even when he swings his daggers, the attacks were dodged easily by Lin Yin. Lin Yin was getting cockier.

"Take this!" said Lin Yin, swinging her Soten Gogetsu. The impact of her weapon sent Suljo to the ground, making a crater. Lin Yin was disappointed with her opponent being a punch bag "What's wrong with you? Can't hit me? You disappoint me. I couldn't help but laugh at you." Suljo slowly helped himself out of the crater. He was looking at Lin Yin while thinking of a strategy.

"Perhaps I should give you a chance. Come, hit me," said Lin Yin, storing her weapons. She spreads her arms, supposedly to let Suljo land a hit on her. Chifuyu shook her head disappointedly at Lin Yin's cocky attitude.

Suljo charged at Lin Yin and attacked with a slash on her body with his buster sword; Baraka. The impact between his buster sword and Lin Yin's Absolute Defense forced Lin Yin to stagger backwards. Lin Yin was a bit surprised with the force of the hit. She aimed her Impact Cannon at Suljo and fired it. The wing panels of Suljo's IS folded out to his front. The panels split and an emerald force field generated between the large splits. Lin Yin's attack was repelled by the force field.

Lin Yin aimed her Impact Cannon again at Suljo. Suljo generated another force field. Unfortunately, that gave Lin Yin a chance to launch a sneak attack. She snuck behind him and hit him from behind with the Impact Cannon. Suljo was thrown across the stadium. He regained balance and didn't move, hovering in mid-air.

"The hell is he doing?" said Lin Yin to herself "Maybe, he's planning something. I better be careful." She waited for Suljo to make his move. Her weapons readied. The others in the control tower waited in anticipation.

"He's thinking of a strategy," Tabane pointed out "Ever since I took him for adoption, he's been training every day. I asked for the help of a person from the German military to train him. She's also an IS pilot. Besides her, there was a British who also trained him," said Tabane. She said to Chifuyu "The German that I hired was named Sabine. Do you know her?"

"No," said Chifuyu "When I was in the German military to train Laura, I heard there was a soldier who got discharged from the military. So, I suppose it was her and she left to train Kiranovich?"

"Correct!" said Tabane happily.

"Ichika," said Chifuyu "After Kiranovich beats Lin Yin, you'll be his next opponent."

"Eh, are you serious?" said Ichika, surprised.

After a few minutes of doing nothing, Suljo made his move. He threw his medium length dagger at Lin Yin. Lin Yin was caught off guard. Realizing it's too late to dodge; she parried the weapon and received a stab at the leg by another dagger, damaging it. Lin Yin cursed under her breath. Suljo swings his buster sword. Lin Yin was too late to block with her sword, so she used her IS arms. It created a crack on both of the arms.

"Gah!" gasped Lin Yin as she staggered away. Suljo gave an uppercut right into her rib. Lin Yin coughed, spitting saliva out of her mouth upon the impact.

An IS's Absolute Defence could only protect the user from attacks that can kill her, not attacks that can injure her. So, since Suljo used a melee based attack, the Shenlong didn't protect Lin Yin from feeling the pain. Suljo placed his weapon to its place and raised his fist into a fighting stance.

"Hand to hand, eh?" said Lin Yin, spitting at the ground. She raised her IS fists and gave a straight punch at Suljo. Her attack was easy to read. Suljo evaded the punch and gave a hook to her ribs. Lin Yin yelped. Gritting her teeth, she returned his punch with a straight punch. Suljo ducked below and released two punches at her abdomen. Lin Yin gave an 'oomph' for each punch she received. Suljo gave a roundhouse kick and it hit right on the right IS arm. Suljo elbowed Lin Yin's ribs when she missed her punch and threw her to the ground.

"UGH!" coughed Lin Yin when her body hits the hard ground.

"Enough of this!" said Lin Yin, drawing one Soten Gogetsu. Suljo drew his buster sword. Lin Yin charged at him "Gyaaaaaah!"

They swing their weapons. Lin Yin's grip was weak. So, her weapons flew away. She retreated and aimed her Impact Cannon at him and fired multiple times. Suljo charged at her while using his force field. He pulled his buster sword and swings it with all of his strength. It hits her right on the torso. Lin Yin was thrown to the ground, creating a crater. Her Shenlong has depleted all of its energy. Her IS deactivated. The horns blared and the score board showed the word 'Winner: Suljo Kiranovich'. Everyone at the stands cheered.

"Ah, she lost," said Charlotte.

"Her pride has consumed her," said Chifuyu.

"I lost… to a village idiot," said Lin Yin. She climbed out of the crater, her head spinning. Suljo flew to her and deactivated his IS.

"Hey, are you okay?" said Suljo to her. He had a worried expression written on his face. Lin Yin shoved him to the ground.

"I'm not okay with this!" said Lin Yin, flailing her arms in frustration.

"Thank you for the match, Huang-san," said Suljo "It was an enthralling experience to fight for the first time."

"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUP! RAWR!" screamed Lin Yin, stomping the ground. The crowd couldn't help laughing at her.

Ichika's going to fight Suljo. He's either confident or worried about the next match. Chifuyu coaxed him to go down the field. Houki, Cecilia, Laura and Charlotte gave him a few words of motivation. Even Laura asked him to kick Suljo's butt so hard so that he wouldn't be able to use his IS.

"Ichika," said Chifuyu "You've seen what happened to Lin Yin before. If he knocks your weapon away, switch to any kind of weapon you have. Don't ever engage him in hand to hand."

"Yes, Orimura-sensei," said Ichika "Don't worry; surely he can't knock away my Particle Cannon, right?"

The girls were starting to vacate the stands when the score board suddenly updated its screen to 'Suljo Kiranovich vs Ichika Orimura'. This of course made them return to their seats, so eager to watch the only two boys fight. Ichika activated his Second Shift IS, Byaku Shiki Setsura and flew to the field where Suljo was just about to leave.

"Uh, do I have to fight you?" said Suljo.

"My sister asked me to," said Ichika.

"Nice IS, Ichika. It's beautiful," praised Suljo. He has doubts and worries written on his face. Ichika noticed this and thought that Suljo was afraid because Ichika's Byaku Shiki Setsura was bigger in size compared to Suljo's Emerald Snow.

"You too," said Ichika. The horns blared. Suljo took out his buster sword and Ichika took out his Yukihira beam saber.

"I hope Ichika will win this fight," said Lin Yin. She was in the control tower with the others. She glanced at the screen that showed the status of Suljo's and Ichika's IS. Suljo's IS shield energy was low. Lin Yin smirked to herself.

"By the way, Lin Yin," said Chifuyu. Lin Yin could sense trouble by the looks of Chifuyu "You were displaying a dishonourable show in front of Kiranovich with your cocky attitude. Therefore, give me 50 push-ups."

"Noooo!" Lin Yin moaned.

The fight started with both Ichika and Suljo charging at each other. They swing their weapons and to Suljo's shock, Ichika's Yukihira Type 2 sliced his buster sword when they made contact. Suljo quickly draw his rifle but Ichika managed to slice it. Suljo panicked and when Ichika swings his Yukihira at him, he quickly dodged. Unfortunately, the leg part of Suljo's IS was sliced. To everyone in the control tower, this fight seems to be too easy for Ichika. Chifuyu grabbed the comm link to contact Ichika.

"Ichika, stop using your Yukihira! Your energy is depleting!" said Chifuyu. True, the energy of Ichika's IS is depleting drastically. When his IS activates the Fold-Out Armor, the Yukihira will transform from default mode to Type 2. Yukihira Type 2 is a powerful weapon that can slice through anything easily, even slicing through the opponent, making it a deadly weapon. The only drawback is the weapon consumes too much energy. This was the reason Ichika lost to Cecilia last year.

Ichika followed Chifuyu's orders and withdraw his Yukihira. Suljo, still shocked, decided to use his daggers. He drew one at each of his hands and it transformed into shooting mode. He shoots Ichika. Ichika received the shots but his Byaku Shiki Setsura took it like it's an ant bite. Ichika aimed his Particle Cannon at Suljo. The weapon charges its energy and released a blast of energy towards Suljo. Suljo quickly used his fold out wings to generate a force field. The force field repelled the attack but the force was too strong and Suljo was thrown straight to the wall.

"Stop the fight," said Chifuyu to Maya. Maya looked at her in confusion "Stop it now!"

Then, the horns blared, signalling the end of the fight. Ichika stopped in his tracks. The scoreboard showed the word 'Winner: Ichika Orimura'. The crowd gave a clap. Ichika flew towards the crater and Suljo was lying on his back without his IS.

"You won," said Suljo, smiling although he's groggy.

"But we haven't finished yet," said Ichika.

"I know…," said Suljo. He slowly helped himself up but he failed. He fell on his back again.

"Ow, ow, ouch…," he hissed, through his gritted teeth. He clutched his stomach. Ichika quickly helped him on his knees.

"You alright?" said Ichika worriedly.

"Must've been the force of your hit," said Suljo, smiling "I'm okay."

"I shouldn't fire that Impact Canon on you," said Ichika guiltily. He felt like he had just hurt Suljo's feeling.

"Hey, you beat me in an instant," said Suljo calmly.

"It's too one sided," said Ichika "Chifuyu-neesan shouldn't asked me to fight you. You've fought two matches in a row."

"Hah! Serves the village idiot right! He lost!" cheered Lin Yin. She was lying on the floor in exhaustion after finishing her punishment. Although she was tired, she was happy to see Suljo lost. Houki, Cecilia, Laura and Charlotte gave a sigh of relief.

"That fight was too easy for Ichika," said Cecilia.

"I know. It's embarrassing for that idiot to lose in less than one minute! Damn, this is gonna be worth insulting," said Lin Yin happily, showing the timer at the computer screen.

"I wonder, Instructor," said Laura to Chifuyu "Why did you stop the fight?"

"Kiranovich is still a rookie. Pitting him against Ichika will end up getting himself killed," said Chifuyu.

"Mou, then you shouldn't do that! Ikkun's IS is stronger than Susu, you know," said Tabane, pouting her mouth "He could've killed him. Poor, Susu. He's gonna do a lot of catching up since he's new to IS."

"He's weak," Laura commented "He doesn't seem to have enough experience." Laura was eager to find out who had trained Suljo when Tabane had mentioned one of his trainers was from the German military. Maybe she knew her before.

"I want to ask you about Kiranovich's enrolment into this academy," whispered Chifuyu to Tabane "Why did he got enrolled a year after Ichika?"

"It's confidential," whispered Tabane back to Chifuyu "Come, we'll talk in a private place."

**-Chapter 3 End-**


	4. Training Him

**Infinite Stratos: A New Person**

**Chapter 4: Training him and training me**

Chifuyu led Tabane to a secure room. After shutting the door shut, she faced Tabane.

"I don't have much time here. So I'll make this brief," said Tabane. Chifuyu crossed her hands, ready to listen "I was supposed to send him here right after he got his IS, but somehow, we were attacked by an IS drone," This surprises Chifuyu.

"Sabine destroyed it, fortunately. After checking the wreckage, it belonged to an IS company," said Tabane "They want the Core. I'm afraid if the company had its hands on it, they would hack and mass produce it. Can you imagine if they did that? Men would be able to pilot it. It would be sold in the black market, or worse, the world superpowers would buy it and try to apply it into their military. They would use their veto power to violate the Alaska Treaty. That was why I sent him here, to keep him safe from other threats."

Then, Tabane changed her voice to a whisper, as if she'll tell something very secret "I've tried a lot of experiments to alter the IS Core of the dead pilot. All of them failed,"

"So, you're saying?" said Chifuyu.

"Yes, his IS doesn't use an altered IS Core. I've invented a new type of Core," said Tabane. Chifuyu was shocked at the revelation "It may look and function like a normal IS. We've seen how it performed during the match and how easily it got defeated by Ikkun's IS. It's still in its experimental stage."

"How did this company know about the Core, while you were in hiding?" said Chifuyu, puzzled. She knew her friend is a master in hiding herself from the public.

"Well, that's the big question. The security was tight, but how could someone reveal our secret base's location," said Tabane "It was fortunate that the person didn't get his or her hands on the blueprint of the special Core. No one except me knew where the blueprint is. I suspect one of us is a mole."

"So, you're going to let it go?" said Chifuyu.

"I have burnt the blueprint. Plus, Susu is here. Everything will be safe. I guarantee you," said Tabane.

They kept quiet for a few seconds before Chifuyu said, "What was the real reason of you giving him that IS? You can't just give someone an IS, let alone a male. I know you have something else on your mind."

"After witnessing the massacre at Susu's place, I felt devastated. I couldn't imagine people would use them to such an extent. On top of that, my creations have created a rift between men and women. Susu just happened to be one of the victims of society. Because of that, he had a serious issue of gynophobia," said Tabane "The real reason the Bosnian government chose him as a representative was to throw him away from his country."

"Then, the claim that Kiranovich was owned by the government of Bosnia was a lie?" Chifuyu.

"They want to avoid the violation of the Treaty," said Tabane "They won't help Susu. Scholarships, accommodation and his welfare during his studies are not of their concern."

It was outrageous for Chifuyu to hear about it "How could they?"

"You can say he had committed something very offensive that landed him in deep trouble. It came from his hatred of women. He tends to…break when he's pushed too far. But don't worry, Sabine had him learn to control his fear."

* * *

><p><strong>Boys Bath<strong>

"Do you still feel any aches on your body?" said Ichika to Suljo. They were in the boys' large bath which was specifically made to separate the girls from the boys.

"Only a bit, but it's not that bad," said Suljo. Ichika nodded and they undressed their IS suit side by side. Ichika took a peek at Suljo's topless body. He didn't see any curves on his chest.

"_Suljo's a guy, that's for sure," _Ichika thought. The last thing he expects to happen was Suljo turned out to be a girl.

"Is there something wrong?" said Suljo, noticed at the stare that Ichika has given.

"Nothing," said Ichika.

The boys entered the hot tub area of the changing room. They soaked their bodies into the hot water. Both of them let out a long sigh, enjoying the hot water washing away their stress.

"Do you like it?" said Ichika.

"Oh, yes. The water is hot and relaxing," said Suljo. He waded inside the bath happily—splashing the water like a child. Ichika couldn't help but chuckle at his antics "I love swimming."

"There's the school pool," said Ichika "I don't know when's the suitable time to use it, but I can show it to you after school."

"Really? That's really nice of you," said Suljo. Ichika blushed lightly at his compliment.

"Hey, about the match against Lin Yin, you totally kicked ass in hand to hand," said Ichika.

"Thanks," said Suljo.

"Sabine's her name, right? That trainer of yours," said Ichika.

"How did you know?"

"Tabane explained everything to us during your match against Lin Yin," said Ichika.

"Oh, Taba-Neesan was here?"

"She was, but she disappeared after our match," said Ichika "So, you lived in an underground bunker all the time? Aren't you bored?"

"If you were in my shoe, you won't enjoy it. It's like living inside a military base. You know how it looks like," said Suljo. Ichika was grinning nervously. It must've been harsh for the Bosnian, but his bright and cheerful appearance didn't show any sign of it.

"Anyway, what kind of training did you go? I heard that you haven't even trained in an IS."

"Taba-Neesan said it was still early for me to get an IS. So, I had to learn the basics of combat. The match against Huang-san was actually my very first IS match. I can't believe I won," said Suljo.

"Well, you've implemented everything that you've learned," said Ichika "But still, you lost against me." He realized his slip of the tongue. It's not nice for him to say that.

"Yeah, I guess that's fair; First time winning and losing. Sabine had little time to teach me the fundamentals of handling my IS. She said I have to implement what I've learned into it. But, you know, after losing against you, I didn't think that I could be that good in an IS," said Suljo.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you can master it. Look at me; I had to fight Cecilia on my first day in this academy." said Ichika "You just have to gain experience if you want to become good at using your IS. I gained my experience through matches. If you can, try to spar with the girls. They're good," said Ichika.

"I want you to train me. I want to be strong just like you,"

"I will. Besides, that's what friends are for," said Ichika. He rests his back against the tub. It has been a while since he talked to another boy like him. Being the only boy in this academy bores him. Sure, he had a few moments that he enjoyed being surrounded by girls. He then realised Suljo was staring at him with a smile.

"You're different. I was just a stranger to you when we first met. But you showed me your friendliness. I have to say, I'm glad to meet you," said Suljo. Ichika chuckled while scratching his head, blushing at his compliment. He got out of the bath. Suljo followed him.

"Okay, let me scrub your back," said Ichika.

"What?" said Suljo.

"That's how Japanese people bath," said Ichika.

"Well, okay," said Suljo. He sat on the stool while Ichika was on his knees behind him. Ichika scrubbed Suljo's back. It was a silent moment for a few minutes before Ichika started to talk.

"It feels awkward when we bath together," said Ichika.

"We're guys. There's no need to be embarrassed," said Suljo.

"I know, but since there are only both of us, they would get the wrong idea," said Ichika, pointing at the bathroom door. Silhouettes of around five girls were seen through the glass. Ichika went to the door and slides it open. The peeking girls staggered backwards when they see Ichika clad with a towel standing in front of them "Should I alert the others that there are perverts here?"

"No," said the girls. They quickly scrambled from the place.

"Girls can be perverts," said Ichika "Most of the girls came from all-girls schools. So, they're curious about us. That's why they are very interested in us. Unfortunately, they used Yaoi comics as their source."

"What's Yaoi?" asked Suljo innocently, which made Ichika to blush. Ichika was uncertain whether to explain the boy-love genre to him or not.

"It's best if you forget it. And don't even ask the girls," said Ichika. Suljo was disappointed and had to give up.

* * *

><p><strong>Classroom<strong>

"Surprise!" The whole class chorused. Behind them is a big fancy looking banner with 'WELCOME TO JAPAN, SULJO KIRANOVICH' written on it. The girls cheered as Ichika and Suljo stepped into the classroom. Suljo was astounded by their surprise party and Ichika, who planned this earlier with the girls, smiled. Houki, Cecilia, Lin Yin and Charlotte are at the side of the class, showing no interest with the party. Despite the party was held in their class, students from different classes were also there.

As Ichika and Suljo stepped inside, girls began to flock around Suljo, congratulating him for his IS match. Then, Suljo was approached by a senior with glasses. "Hello, I'm Mayuzumi Kaoruko from the Newspaper Club. Do you have time for an interview?" said the senior. Suljo gave her his permission. The senior took pictures of him. Then, she interviewed him.

"Okay, introduce yourself," said Mayuzumi.

"My name is Suljo Kiranovich. I came from Bosnia and Herzegovina," said Suljo "Do I have to give my date of birth?"

"Oh, definitely," said Mayuzumi.

"1st of September,"

"Ooh, a Virgo," said Mayuzumi "So, are you single?" A few girls around started to look at Suljo with high hopes.

"_What kind of question is that?" _thought Ichika.

"I'm single," said Suljo. The girls cheered.

"Hmm hmm, so are you interested to have a girlfriend?" said Mayuzumi.

"I want to concentrate on my studies. Having a girlfriend is not a thing for me," said Suljo. Immediately, the girls hung their head sadly, much to Ichika's amusement.

"Oh, you'll see. Next, what can you say about Japan?" said Mayuzumi.

"It's a nice place. The people here are friendly to new people," said Suljo "Since I've never been outside Bosnia, This place is radically different than my place."

"This is Japan. Next, do you have a hobby?" said Mayuzumi proudly.

"I rear cows and sheep back in my country," said Suljo "Other than that, I collect chicken eggs, milk the cows and feed the animals." Everyone near him stared blankly at him before he continued "I was raised in a farm."

"_Old McDonald had a farm, O,"_ sang Lin Yin, snickering.

"Raised in a farm, huh?" said Cecilia.

"Okay, last question. What are your thoughts after fighting Ichika Orimura?" said Mayuzumi.

"Honestly, he's quite challenging. I'm happy to face against the first male IS pilot and since he's more experienced than me, I lost," said Suljo "I'm still new. I hope that we can learn a lot from each other."

"We do hope so. Thank you for giving your cooperation, Suljo Kiranovich," said Mayuzumi, she offered her hand. Suljo didn't shake her hand. "I guess you're the type that doesn't shake hands with girls. Anyway, I'll make this interview into an interesting article. Wait for it, okay?"

"May I know who was the girl that lost against him in the IS match? We're going to have a photo session together," announced Mayuzumi. Lin Yin's face went red in shame. With a heavy sigh, Lin Yin went for the photo shoot.

Ichika stood beside Suljo, shaking his hand while Lin Yin made a 'loser' hand sign behind him. Clicking her camera, Mayuzumi said, "Who wants to take pictures with him?" Instantly, nearly half of the class huddled in front of Suljo, asking for a picture with him. Suljo was both nervous and confused. He looked at the girls; each of them looked like a predator cornering its prey.

Ichika grabbed the poor boy's shoulders, "It's okay, I'll be on your side. We'll take it together," he said, smirking. Following the advice of the guy who has experience with the school, Suljo stood beside him. Ichika placed his hand on Suljo's shoulder. Both of them smiled at the camera. The girls stood around the boys. They happily posed for the camera. One of them grabbed the tip of Suljo's shemah, but Suljo frowned upon that and pulled the tip of his shemah away from her.

After the photo session, everyone did their own business. It was lucky that the teachers were having a meeting at this time. The students from other classes went back to their respective places. Suljo grabbed a drink and went with Ichika to Ichika's harem.

"How's the party?" said Ichika.

"It's astounding. I've never been to a party before," said Suljo. Lin Yin, expecting that kind of answer, smirked at Charlotte. Charlotte giggled.

"It does suck to be a village idiot," said Lin Yin. Suljo ignored her insult.

"You're jealous because there's no party for you when you transferred here," said Ichika to Lin Yin, which results him getting stomped on the legs.

"Excuse me, can we talk?" said Laura to Suljo.

"Yes," said Suljo.

"Can you speak in German?" said Laura.

Suljo, his eyes widened, said, "Yes, although it's a bit broken,"

Laura smiled and replied, "Ach so, das ist wunderba!" (Oh, that's wonderful!). After that, they chatted happily in German. Laura giggled and Suljo laughed at one point of their conversation. Then, Laura's face changed to serious. She talked in a serious tone. Suljo nodded slowly at the end of her talk. He replied back in a calm tone. Laura gave him a glare before turning back. Her face showed a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Wow, I didn't know you can speak in German," said Ichika.

"He learned it from his German trainer," said Laura.

"What does 'village idiot' mean in German?" said Lin Yin.

"Can it, Lin Yin," said Ichika. Lin Yin playfully whistled a tune, ignoring him.

"What were you two talking about? Why are both of you laughing back then? Is it about us?" said Charlotte to Laura.

"Nothing, his German is a bit broken," said Laura "He took a crash course in German."

"My trainer was busy that time," said Suljo.

"Anyways, Suljo and I had a conversation at the changing room. We were planning on training together," said Ichika.

"Is the training during class not enough for him?" said Houki to Ichika.

"Yes, it's not enough," said Ichika.

"Cecilia, you've been quiet for a long time. Is there something bothering you?" said Charlotte to Cecilia.

"It bothers me to know someone dishonourable like Kiranovich would enrol here," said Cecilia.

"Excuse me?" said Suljo.

"I'm just saying, that we didn't expect the inventor of IS herself would give someone like you an IS," said Cecilia, her tone proved her disappointment and disapproval "It's just weird to have a guy piloting Infinite Stratos. Men have no place to use Infinite Stratos. Infinite Stratos is an honour for us women to use, not for a lowly farm boy who rears sheep on a daily basis. Infinite Stratos is not an exoskeleton to be taken lightly!"

"'Farm boy'; that's a good one, Cecilia," said Lin Yin, patting Cecilia's back.

Yesterday, Cecilia was friendly towards Suljo. Upon hearing Tabane's story, she started to despise him. As a person who was raised in the rich environment of the British aristocracy, Cecilia knows the meaning of honour and nobility. Her father was a person constantly being dominated by her mother and eventually made Cecilia to view men as dishonourable and coward. That was until she fought Ichika in an IS match. Ichika's selfless act had her change her view. She looked at Ichika as a gentleman.

But, for Suljo Kiranovich; how he was given a special IS without any effort or gifted ability left Cecilia disgusted. In addition, while scientists failed finding ways to make Infinite Stratos respond to men, Suljo was easily given one by Tabane herself. She could say that he's lucky—A lucky bastard.

"You're pathetic, Kiranovich. You have no honour. I find your use of the altered IS Core rather… unpleasant," said Cecilia, brushing her hair arrogantly. She drank her drink before continuing, "Well, I guess since that your IS was 'specially' made, just give up on joining any tournaments, for it is lower than all the other IS. Even lower than the Training IS',"

"Hmm, I'm weak?" said Suljo to Cecilia. His tone was calm. "Huang-san must be really easy on me back then. That explained her loss."

"You're damn right I was being easy on you. I have more experience than you because I've fought a lot. When I had to fight you, I knew it was going to be an easy victory for me," said Lin Yin to Suljo proudly "Instead of winning, I gave you a chance to win!"

"That was nice of you to do that," said Suljo.

"N-next time we fight, I'll beat you to a pulp!" said Lin Yin, blushing.

"It would be an honor," said Suljo.

"You're being sarcastic, right?" said Lin Yin.

"Girls, have you had enough criticizing him? It's since day one you've been like this," said Ichika, standing between his harem and Suljo "I know you can't familiarize with a new member in our clique, especially since he's a guy. But, he's still new to Infinite Stratos. I suggest we can take part in training him. It'll be fun. In return, maybe he has something to share with us."

"You do it," said Cecilia, Charlotte, Laura, Lin Yin and Houki. Ichika sighed in defeat.

"Ichika's lucky to have a repertoire of strong and beautiful girls around him. It's a shame if they won't help his friend," praised Suljo. The girls blushed.

"We won't help you," said Lin Yin to Suljo.

"Well, don't cry if he beats you all one day," said Ichika. That only earned him glares from the girls.

"Like Hell!" said the girls in unison, sending Ichika almost off his feet.

"I know that it was dishonourable for me to have that 'special' IS, Alcott-san," said Suljo to Cecilia "The important thing is, please keep this a secret. Taba-Neesan didn't want this secret to be exposed to the public."

"We will, but shame on you," said Cecilia. Suljo gave a sigh of relief and thanked Cecilia, which in return he got a 'You're not welcome,' from her. Suljo drank his drink and pulled his face.

"What's this?" said Suljo, changing the topic.

"It's Coca-Cola," said Ichika "Never drink it?" Suljo shook his head.

"Well, that's an obvious answer," said Cecilia.

Lin Yin has a mischievous idea of a prank.

"Hey, village idiot, to drink a coke, you must shake it first," said Lin Yin to Suljo. She took a can of Coca-Cola and handed it to Suljo.

"Okay, why?" said Suljo, starting to shake the can.

"It's the way to make it less gassy when you drink it," said Lin Yin "You got to shake it faster." Suljo followed her instructions, unaware that he's being tricked. For Lin Yin, this is her first step to bully him.

"Enjoy your drink," said Lin Yin, smirking. Suljo opened the tab of the can and before he knew it, the coke burst. It didn't burst towards him, instead Houki, Cecilia and Laura, who were right in front of Suljo. Their uniforms were stained with the colour of the coke. They didn't say a word and glared at Suljo.

"It exploded! I've never seen a drink that can explode!" said Suljo. He was so shocked he fell on his bottom. Lin Yin laughed hysterically, clutching her stomach. She was laughing at how stupid Suljo looked. Ichika was trying to hold back his laughter, but he couldn't. He laughed loudly.

"How can people drink this?" said Suljo. This made Lin Yin to literally roll on the floor and laughed loudly.

"Despicable," muttered Cecilia.

"Scheise," muttered Laura.

"Idiot," muttered Houki.

* * *

><p>Ichika brought Suljo to the school pool as promised just to survey the place. He gave him a brief tour of the school after that. Along the tour, girls that they encountered were giggling and blushing at the sight of them. This made Ichika and Suljo to also blush since most of the time they saw girls except that there was one time they greeted a male teacher who happens to walk by. At the turn of the corridor, they collided with a girl. The girl fell on her bottom. Ichika tried to offer his hand but instead, he got a glare from the girl,<p>

"Watch where you going, pinhead," said the girl angrily. She helped herself up and muttered "Nice, now we have two thrashes in this place." Then, she walked away arrogantly.

"You see, not all girls are nice to us," said Ichika.

"Is that a senior?" said Suljo.

"I guess she is," said Ichika "Well, I can't afford to show you every place in this academy, so it's better if we train straight away."

* * *

><p><strong>Battle Arena, IS Academy.<strong>

Ichika and Suljo stood facing each other at the middle of the field of the arena. There was nobody at this moment. That's fine by Ichika, because the last thing he wanted was unnecessary interruptions from the girls.

"Okay, first thing that you need to learn is about controlling your IS. It is the most important aspect to be familiar with it. Adapt it like it's your own body," said Ichika to Suljo.

"Got it," said Suljo.

"But first, do you know how to perform a Partial Deployment?" said Ichika. From the looks of Suljo, he doesn't. Ichika took the time to explain that a Partial Displacement is where a person can summon a part of the IS. He demonstrated by summoning his Yukihira beam saber. "Not only that, you can turn your hand into you IS hands also." Then, his right arm materialized into a metallic robot arm.

"Now, try," said Ichika. Suljo raised his right hand to his front and concentrated. He succeeded when a buster sword materialized in his hand.

"I did it!" said Suljo, heaving the heavy weapon on his shoulder.

"Good, try summoning others," said Ichika. Suljo tried summoning his Atici beam rifle. Next, he summoned his two Keskin rifle/swords "You're getting the hang of it. We'll proceed with our IS'."

"Okay," said Suljo. Both of them transformed into their respective IS' and hovered mid-air "What's next?"

"Can you see this thing floating in front of me?" said Ichika. There was a holographic video floating in front of him "You can see anything in any direction via this video and zoom in. When you're in an IS, all of your five senses are enhanced."

"Understood," said Suljo. He activated his video feed in front of him. From it, he can see the control tower of the arena behind him. He zoomed the video and saw the interior.

"Hm, for starters, lets just fly around," said Ichika.

Ichika and Suljo flew around the arena. Then, they flew out of the arena and to the school building. Eventually, their flight course extended outside of the school boundaries to the ocean between the island where the school was and the mainland. Ichika gestured Suljo to fly to a higher altitude. Suljo was a little bit scared but Ichika managed to convince him that he'll be fine. Next, Ichika taught Suljo to do sharp turns and bank his IS.

* * *

><p>As the sun was about to set, the boys overlooked the entire island. They're still outside the school boundaries.<p>

"Beautiful, isn't it?" said Ichika. Suljo gave him a small nod "Do you know that this spot used to have nothing here? After the introduction of IS, the government built this island for this academy."

"You people are really impressive. Not only mankind was able to build this suit, but they also could make an artificial island," said Suljo.

"Yeah, well, lets get back. Chifuyu might not like it when she knows we're far from the academy,"

When they arrived at the battle arena, they saw a familiar figure standing in the middle of the field. At first Ichika thought it was Chifuyu. He prepared for the worse from his sister. However, the person in question was Laura, and she was in her grey IS suit. She stood there with her arms folded. She had a serious expression written on her face as she watched them landing beside her.

"Laura," Ichika greeted. He was curious with the attire she was wearing. Does it mean she'll use her IS?

"Kiranovich, let's start," said Laura to Suljo in German. Suljo nodded. Laura took her distance and activated her IS; Schwarze Regen. Ichika was surprised.

"Wait, hold on. What's going on here?" said Ichika.

"Bodewig-san and I agreed to test our strength," said Suljo.

"So, that's what your conversation with her at class was about," said Ichika "Suljo, don't go against her. She's stronger than you. You'll hurt yourself." Ichika turned to Laura, who was waiting impatiently "Laura, stop it. Your IS is on a different level than Suljo's."

"While Kiranovich was trained by a German soldier, I was raised in a German military environment since birth. I wanted to see how well this person, Sabine, had taught him," said Laura. Ichika had to comply with her. He retreated back while in his IS.

"Alright, but if anything bad happens, I'll have to intervene," said Ichika. Both Suljo and Laura nodded.

"Fertig?" said Laura to Suljo (Ready?)

"Ja," said Suljo, summoning his Keskins. The swords transformed into shooting mode.

"Starte!" Laura fired her laser cannon. Suljo flew from its range of fire and fired his Keskin. Laura raised her hand and the beam was deflected. Suljo fired two shots and strafed left before continuing with another three shots. Laura deflects the shots.

Suljo charged while swinging one of his Keskin swords. He was surprised when Laura managed to grab the sword.

"You're too easy to predict!" said Laura. An incoming uppercut came aiming towards her chin, but she dodged it easily. A beam saber extended out from her IS hand. Suljo raised one arm up to his chest, ready to block the hit. However, he didn't feel anything. The tip of Laura's blade was an inch away from him, together with her smirking.

"That's enough," said Laura.

"What? That was short," said Ichika.

"This is a disappointment to me," said Laura. She deactivated her Schwarzen Regen and turned to Suljo "Never have I fought someone as weak as you. It's a shame, because we Germans have the roughest military training regime. Yet, you lost easily."

"I have nothing to say. You were right, Bodewig-san," said Suljo, red in embarrassment. Laura smiled.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," said Laura, leaving the place.

"Suljo, are you alright?" said Ichika. Suljo shrugged.

"I lost again," said Suljo, giving a long sigh.

"Don't mope about it," said Ichika, patting his back "Come on, that was just Laura. There are thousands of girls here."

Suljo chuckled "I guess you're right."

**-Chapter 4 END-**


End file.
